Memories of a life past
by Intertiatic
Summary: Aang's been having dreams, dreams of a life that isn't his. He's been having dreams of a woman he doesn't know, but is falling in love with anyways.


O

It was probably for the best that he didn't tell her. Yes, it wouldn't only worry her if he did. Aang didn't want that, to worry her, that is. No matter how much the dreams haunted him; he wouldn't worry Katara with his problems, or anyone else for that matter;not Sokka, not Appa, not even Momo.

All of them had already had enough excitement and trouble to last them a lifetime, especially after the incident a week before; when the Fire Nation invaded the North Pole: the Northern Water Tribe's home.

The North Pole would forever be remembered as the place where the Water Tribe took its epic stand against the Fire Nation, and won. Casualties on both sides, of course, but no doubt, the Fire Nation had taken the worst of the beating and were licking their wounds at this very moment. That meant no one would be out searching for him – The Avatar, the last airbender, the last of his kind, Aang – for quite some time.

Taking advantage of the opportunity that had been granted to them; they left the North Pole nearly three days ago. But, the toll the battle had taken on them was beginning to show now; more than one hundred miles from the place of ascension for Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe, and final resting place for Admiral Zhao of the Fire Nation.

They were all tired. Sokka especially; his eyes showed deep sadness, and, though he would never admit to it, he was worse off than the others. Aang decided it best to let them rest. Later, they'd be able to forget the events of the past, and soon enough, they'd embark on other adventures. But, for now, they'd take their rest.

Until then, Aang was content with keeping his troubles to himself and basking in the rich moonlight. The Avatar gave a half-smile as he took in the scenery before him: he sat atop a grassy cliff, overlooking the small island they had taken refuge on. To his front was a large forest and beyond that – and all around him, for that matter – was the vast ocean he had grown so accustomed to seeing day in and day out. Behind him, he knew, was also forest, where they'd set up camp.

The cliff was the perfect spot for meditation, that was the reason why he had gone there in the first place, to clear his head of his nightmares and maybe find the cause of them.

Aang tried for nearlyhours to concentrate, to sink into his place of rest, of comfort, so as to find the cause of his dreams. It had all been for naught, however, and there he sat, staring up at the perfect disc of light that rested amongst the heavens. Shifting his gaze downward at the water, Aang could almost swear he saw someone smiling at him in the pale reflection of the moon--almost.

Letting his heads slide behind his head, he sat back and lay down on the grass. He began to drift off, but, as always sleep wouldn't come to him. At the very second he began to doze off, a face would flash in his mind and he'd jerk awake: startled, sweating. The face haunted him; he didn't know who it belonged to, only that she was incredibly beautiful.

She reminded him of Katara.

Her eyes were so full of love and devotion. Love for whom? Aang did not know, but he knew he'd had to find out what meaning these dreams held sooner or later…or he'd go mad.

The face could hardly be a figment of his imagination; she seemed so real, too real to be anything but positively real. The young Avatar decided he might be falling in love.

**Xxx**

Katara of the Southern Water Tribe was the kind of person who could make any man happy just by being around him. She was the kind of person who would one day be a caring mother and loving wife. Yet, at the same time, she was also a warrior, and nearly a master waterbender. Her life and accomplishments were so impressive, indeed, that people sometimes forgot she was really only a fourteen year old girl.

For her, the dreams seemed to be the only place where she was truly safe. They were her only haven, her only escape from this adventure and her responsibilities. Those dreams were the only place where she could be a normal girl playing in the snowthat blanketed her old homeonce more. In her dreams she was simply a normal village girl named,

"_Katara, dinner's ready!" said a voice from inside the igloo, "Call your brother in, too, okay?"_

"_Okay, Mom," replied the six year old Katara happily, looking up from her half-built snowman. She'd just finished rolling the head and was getting ready to place it atop the two other orbs of snow. Katara pouted slightly, she'd better hurry up and finish her snowman before Mom got mad. _

_Picking up her ball of snow she patted it gently on top of the middle orb. Making sure it wouldn't fall off, she used her index finger and her thumb to make three indents – two eyes and a nose – on it and then dotted out an upside down "U." _

"_Okay!" She exclaimed happily, "Just one. Last. Thing..." Putting the "finishing touches" on the snowman Katara couldn't help but be amazed at how real it looked. _

"_Hmm…I wonder, Mister Snowman, why do you have that arrow on your head?" She eyed the snowman quizzically._

"_Ooh well! I've got to name you before I go, okay? I wonder what your name should be. Got any ideas? How about, Haru? No. Huh. Okay, how about Jet? Nah, I don't like that name either. I know you're definitely not a Zuko!" _

_Katara began to giggle and put a hand to her mouth to suppress it. Now why was that so funny? She wondered to herself._

"_How about…Ooh! I know, Aang. I'm going to name you Aang."_

"_Katara, hurry up! Dinner's getting cold!" The warm voice from before rang out._

"_Yes, Mom, I'm goin'!" _

_Katara looked up at the snowman again and bowed, "Sorry, Mr. Aang, I got to go. I'll see you later, okay?"_

_Leaving the snowman behind, with its wide grin and arrowed head, she headed out to where Sokka and her father were. On the other side of the village was the tribe's training ground. This particular area of the village always intimidated Katara, justa bit, the men there were always so big and scary-looking…not only that but there were so many sharp things, someone could very well poke someone else's eye out! _

_Katara passed the hand-to-hand arena when she saw both Sokka and their father standing on the edge of a glacier with boomerangs in hand. Sokka had his tribal paint on again, and, at this, Katara rolled her eyes and sighed. _

_Boys are so weird, she thought with a sigh. _

_With a yell their father let the boomerang fly and boy did it fly! The boomerang went incredibly far and then it came back in a graceful arc. Sokka squealed with delight and tried to imitate their father. He threw it and it did fly, but unlike their father, didn't come back. Katara smirked and then bust out laughing when Sokka began to cry. That's when they tooknotice ofher presence._

"_Hey, Katara," their father began, trying to comfort Sokka at the same time, "what brings you out here?"_

"_Mom says that dinner's ready!"_

"_Alright, let's go then!"_

_At hearing this, Sokka perked up, wiping his tears with his sleeve before they froze. Their father took his hand, as well as Katara's and they walked hand-in-hand. _

Katara shifted uncomfortably in her sleeping bag. "Mom…no…"

_The next thing Katara knew it was snowing black. Shestuck out her tongue to taste it, and began to cough hoarsely at its taste._

_There was fire everywhere, smoke coming from the village. Her father had left her in the care of Sokka and had told them not to move, but she didn't care…she ran ahead to their igloo. It was dinner time; their mom should be waiting for them. She had to warn her before it was too late! Behind her she heard Sokka yelling for her to stop, that it was too dangerous. _

_The village was aflame; she could hear screams of panic and the yells of the invaders. Many igloos were melted, and many bodies were charred. Women, children, even the elderly, none were spared. Katara knew many of the children who know lay scattered around the village. She fought back the urge to cry and headed home. _

_Katara heard another voice call after her. Gran-gran, she said in her head, matching the voice to the person. _

_Her igloo was melted, and her mother was no where in sight. Katara could still smell the dinner that they should have been eating right now. She searched frantically among the snow and furniture…until, she stumbled on something. It smelled like burnt meat and was a mix between jet black and dark red. What was it? She clawed at the snow covering the rest of it and then stopped. _

_It was her mom, charred, bloody…_

Katara awoke panting heavily; she felt the sweat dripping from her brow as she looked around to see Sokka snoring loudly next to her, his arm wrapped around the flying lemur, Momo. Taking a moment to calm her breathing, she noticed that Aang wasn't in his usual spot. She rubbed her eyes and quietly walked out of the tent; putting on her coat as she did.

Katara walked around for a bit, softly calling out to Aang, and fearing the worst. She finally found him sitting on the cliff in the clearing just outside the forest.

"What's he doing up so late?"

She walked up to him and lightly tapped on his shoulder.

"Aang, you okay?"

The Avatar stiffened slightly at her touch and turned around to find her face to face with him. She looked worried. _Great, the one thing I don't want her to be,_ he thought with a frown, _well, at least I know she cares._

"Hi, Katara, what're you doing up so late?" He asked, turning back to watch the moon once more.

"I could ask you the same question."

"I was…," he began, as if unsure himself, "I was just star gazing. I couldn't sleep. I guess you couldn't either?"

"Not really. Sokka's snoring is unbearable! It's a wonder we can even sleep at all sometimes."

The Avatar smiled warmly and gave a light chuckle. Katara smirked and sat down next to Aang.

"What about you? What're you doing up so late? I doubt star gazing is a good sport for a growing Avatar. You need your sleep. Tell me, is there something wrong, Aang?"

Aang frowned slightly. He couldn't tell her about his nightmares…or about the face he was falling in love with. Not yet.

"Nah, I'm fine," he said with his most lopsided grin. "We better head back. We're leaving first thing tomorrow, right?"

Aang got up and headed back to camp, leaving Katara to look after Aang, a worried expression visible on her face through the moonlight.

**Xxx**

"_I'll always love you, Shai. You may be the Avatar, but you're still you…and I love you. Remember that." _

Aang felt as though he had just set himself down to sleep when he felt Katara's soft hand shake him awake.

Aang stared straight into Katara's deep blue eyes and said,

"I love you too, Li-Na."


End file.
